The children were amazingly good, it was quite a challenging journey for such young ones.  First, Weeza met me and LT at the childminder’s with their luggage (a lot of it.  Quite half of it remained unworn).  We drove home for three quarters of an hour and they stayed here overnight.  Then we drove three hours to Tim’s and stayed another night there, then set off for Wales.  We managed to leave early enough to get to a really nice pub, family owned for many years, that Tim knows, for lunch, and then it was a short hop to the caravan.

They adored everything.  We went for a walk along the beach and they were thrilled.  The next day, we went to the other end of the beach and they were even happier at the rocks to climb there.  They both started to scramble up, knowing no fear but being clearly sensible and sure-footed, we watched attentively but had no reason to be anxious.  When Gus got to a high point, he danced with excitement.  “I can see the whole world, I can see all the sea, I can see everything!”  This was just how the young Tim had felt, some decades earlier, and I could see how happy he was that they just got it.  It really is a lovely beach.  There’s plenty of sand, but also rocks – the ones going out into the sea are covered in very sharp barnacles and one has to take care, but there are others that are good for scrambling on.  Even I, on that first day, scrambled up Tim’s rock, his favourite as a child.  I walked everywhere with a walking pole, which enabled me to manage pretty well, but I didn’t want to be too much of a wet blanket.

The children also loved the rock pools.  Well, that’s the best part of a beach for me, in fact.  Coming from a seaside with sandy or pebbly beaches, rock pools are a huge treat.

Each day seemed to have its beach theme – the rock pools, the sandcastle building, the scrambling, the frolicking in the sea.  Some of them took place most days, but they all took it in turns to take a major part.  We walked the tunnel to the next small town, we found that the village shop had the best souvenirs (though the town had had the better buckets and spades) and we tested the beer at the village pub.  The children didn’t, of course, but we all liked the excellent ice cream at the van.  LT and I never quite achieved the double scoop but Zerlina and Gus did.  They’ve got immensely healthy appetites.